Pembina Institute

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Danielle Droitsch, Director of U.S. Policy for the Pembina Institute, made the following statement in response to today's unveiling of theAmerican Power Act by Senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman:

"With today's announcement of the Kerry-Lieberman bill, the national political leadership in the U.S. continues to advance serious and detailed proposals to cut greenhouse gas pollution, meet emission targets and create thousands of new clean energy jobs.

"This makes an unfortunate contrast to Stephen Harper's government, which continues to talk about targets without having produced any plan to meet them. Instead, Canada's government has adopted a 'wait for the Americans' approach. Read more »

Posted
May 12, 2010
by Anonymous

In the wake of the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, federal Environment Minister Jim Prentice has joined Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach to beat the drum for the oil sands. Prentice recently portrayed the oil sands as a less environmentally risky alternative to offshore drilling. The Pembina Institute's Danielle Droitsch takes Minister Prentice and Premier Stelmach to task for "using their positions to sell the oil sands" rather than acting "as stewards to province's resources, ensuring responsible development of the oil sands and proper regulation of oil sands operators." She concludes:

The Gulf oil spill is not an opportunity to claim the oil sands are something they're not - safer, cleaner or more secure. The spill should serve as a grave reminder of what can happen if oil is not developed responsibly. Moreover, the spill should set in motion a cleaner, carbon-free energy future, where we don't depend on risky, environmentally damaging fossil fuels at all.

Society has two choices: We can ignore the science and hide our heads in the sand and hope we are lucky, or we can act in the public interest to reduce the threat of global climate change quickly and substantively. The good news is that smart and effective actions are possible. But delay must not be an option.

OTTAWA, ON - The Government of Alberta yesterday made false claims about greenhouse gas emissions from the province's major industrial polluters. The claims were included in a government news release and backgrounder (1) detailing results from provincial greenhouse gas regulations for the year 2009.

"It is simply unacceptable for the government to make claims of emission reductions that do not correspond to reality," said Matthew Bramley, Director of the Pembina Institute's Climate Change Program. "The government's exaggerations may be its attempt to respond to criticism from at home and abroad. But instead of overselling its fundamentally flawed regulations, the government needs to focus on developing a serious plan for real reductions in the province's greenhouse gas pollution." Read more »

By passing the Climate Change Accountability Act today, a majority of MPs have voted for strong, science-based action on climate change. This groundbreaking bill would set a target for Canada's 2050 emissions that lines up with our G8 commitments and with U.S. legislation, and would require the government to move immediately to put in place the policies needed to get on track towards that target.

The passing of the Climate Change Accountability Act is a huge victory for climate change policy in Canada. The environmental movement has supported this Bill from its inception as one of the strongest piece of climate change legislation in Canadian politics.

The oil spill in the Gulf is a catastrophe,” said John Bennett, Executive Director of Sierra Club Canada. “Canada should fully understand the causes of the explosion in the Gulf and the failure of the clean up before allowing any more drilling in Canadian waters. In the meantime a moratorium should be put in place.

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